A number of aviation experts, have come forward in a new documentary to claim that the official explanation for the crash of TWA Flight 800 was wrong and a gas tank explosion did not bring down the flight off the coast of Long Island 17 years ago. (www.foxnews.com) Ещё...

I think you are right. It is amazing that they had military trained observers not related to each other to see something going up towards the plane, but after interview with the FBI they changed their story... Yeah right...

This may get real interesting. Their credentials are good. From day one there have been the alternate theories about a missle, and then that centered not toward terrorists, but from our own Navy, then it was to say that they were tracking a drug runner or something, shot and hit it but they were close to the TWA and the explosion was what got them. That tends to support the outside explosion theory that they are bringing out here. As I said, it will be interesting. After 17 years, I kinda have to pull a Hillary here though, as in "WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES IT MAKE"? Dead is dead.

That's 10x the percent who think Evis is still alive. I infered your post intended "if something hasn't happened, it never will" and responded to that. Had you realy ment "if something never happens", then never takes in both past and present. So never will coupled with never happens is valid. Shall we return to the thread subject?

What I am curious about, if the investigation was officially over, at least initially, how come after 17 years the reassembled plane still sits in a hangar somewhere and somebody has been paying for it all that time? WHY is it still there and WHO is paying for it?

Wayne...how could the military fess up. Have you ever heard the military openly admit that they made a mistake? The only times this has happened is when an outside source or a whistle blower has presented evidence. There are very few journalists around that have the guts to risk a career. The USA is not a healthy place for truth.

The military 'fess up? No, it's this Government that bullshits the public. I was a SAC crewmember on 52's with a top secret clearance, and used to sit in the ready room watching TV listening to the lies the Gov't was telling the civilians. Remember the USS Pueblo incident? Gov't said we didn't own any "spy ships" until N. Korea caught one. This Gov't is getting dangerous. Could this be why you can't buy a gun or ammo at ANY price today??? Getting fed up. Panama is looking better every day.

It is exactly the same when we see stuff that does not follow normal flight enevelopes. The other week a Chinese machine hit a freeking wierd craft and had a huge dent in the radar cone at front. I saw one back in 1967..that was a USAF experimantal. Had frick all to do with ET's.

You got me to thinking on that. Wikipedia said it was permanently stored in Ashburn VA. A little research found a 93 foot section is stored at the Ashburn NTSB training center as a training aid. It appears to be the central section w/o wings and a few jigsaw pieces missing. Maybe the show will have more info.

I can't wait til see this, but if it supports the fuel tank blowing up it is total BS and a waist of time. As a mechanic/avionics/electrician for over 29 years now and working with Boeing type fuel tanks and qty for most of this time the fact of that causing the explosion is out of the question.

There have been 4 fuel tank explosions on Boeing aircraft since 1990. Wiring on older Boeings has been a problem. Newer models use a Teflon-Kapton-Teflon shielded wire. The 747 from TWA was 25 years old and used only Kapton shielded wires. There have been numerous recalls and Airworthiness directives with regards to this wire. It was also a factor in the Swissair crash off the coast of Nova Scotia in 1998. Although that fire originated in the ceiling area adjacent to the cockpit and was a MD11. It will be interesting to see what they have to say. Having been an engineer for 44 years and having been part of several crash investigations, I find it a bit odd that they have waited 17 years to speak out.

The article made mention that they had to retire before they could challenge the findings. Someone said here that the wreckage was contracted for distruction in order that it could not be used to reopen the case, ever. I don't have confirmation of that, and there are a thousand reasons to dispose of the wreckage after the investigation, not the least of which would be to bring back the hanger to service. So odd to wait 17 years, not so very.

To Sparkie624: I am under the impression that the official investigation concluded that a faulty fuel level sensor sparked in the empty (but fume filled) fuselage center tank and the sparks ignited the fumes explosively. This purported explosion in the tank is what was supposed to have torn the a/c apart. Am I wrong about the official investigation's conclusion and are you saying that you believe this sequence is impossible ?

You are correct as to what the official investigation showed, but this documentary will be contradicting that, saying they were there, that they were under a gag order,that the NTSB whitwashed the investigation, and that the explosion came from outside ordnance detonation, although they stop short of saying what it was.

They could have done that because they knew they were testing a top secret something and that something caused the crash. They would rather blame the plane than to say the military was testing a new weapon.

By the same token, look at the recent NSA events with the Whistle Blower... The government did everything to cover that fact up of intrusion as long as they could... Proof is in the pudding, and fact is fact. Our Government does lie to us, and they did on TWA 800

Forensic examination of the skin of the aircraft should clearly show the difference between an explosion and implosion literally at every area adjacent to a rib. These guys should have those data if they are to have credibility.

you do what the boss (ie President) tells you to do......the only reason most things are questioned in todays world is because there are too many cameras and information travels to quickly for them to cover things up...In the past you had to rely on the media; today the news comes from everyday individuals and is uploaded online in a matter of secs.

Yes, they are saying it was a fault in the fuel indicating system wiring... If that was the case it would have been noted on the FDR that is was not working. The sequence in my opinion and I have been all through the BOEING as well as many other a/c. It is no only special wiring, but shielded. NO way it could have done that.

I do not know for sure what happened, but there were 4 independent eye witnesses (2 of which were trained military observers) that saw something from the ground project towards the a/c until after they were interviewed by the FBI.

Well, as I said earlier, it will be interesting. The NTSB came down on one side and several ground witnesses(no pilots) reported seeing what appeared to be a missle trail to it. That said, we really won't never know unless somebody confesses and after 17 years, let them R.I.P.

It has been proven this can happen. And I can prove it to you send preacher man an email he can put you in contact with me. If it was shot down I don’t see how none of the pilots that seen it blow up could miss the fire coming out the back of a rocket but who knows. I say let the poor people rest in peace. Seems some attorney wants more money how he thinks he would get it I don’t know but you can bet you but it will cost US Tax payers in the millions if it gets reopened.

Pilots of two other airlines, I can't recall the companies, that were in the vicinity of JFK said that they observed a "streak" coming up from the ground towards TWA 800, prior to the explosion.

Investigators reported that the distortion of the center tank indicates that it had exploded, and it may very well had, but the question remains, in what sequence of events had that explosion occurred?

Not uncommon, especially on the 47 with it's capacity, depending on destination. Fuel = weight, dead weight in this case. Even in the days of cheap fuel it was still a cost. That is how they got by with the story and I think it was verified by TWA at JFK. Bean counters have been at work a long time.lol

It is there for when they need the extra range... It is there and working... Just not being used. I remember a lot of the older 737's (Long Ranges) had 2 center tanks. One forward of the gear and one aft of the gear. Most airlines found the aft one was not needed and disabled it.

Seems there is always a conspiracy theory about everything. This one though does make you wonder. The theory arose right after the crash and a lot of people seemed to immediately deny any truth. Would be nice to finally know though.

I never accepted the story of a centerline tank explosion from the beginning and after reading the book several years ago I was convinced that the investigation was a white wash orchestrated by the Clinton WH. The book made a fairly strong case from eye witness interviews with people who were credible witnesses that the cause of the explosion was from one or more surface launched missiles that were observed streaking from the surface (sea launched) up to the plane where the explosion was observed. Like TWA 800, Benghazi was "deja vu all over again" with another power hungry presidential candidate vying for reelection whence the truth had to be suppressed to ensure his reelection. The truth will eventually be exposed in both cases for whatever that's worth which unfortunately will be too little too late.

The Navy was testing the AEGIS system at this time. And I know for a fact that they were definitely testing something in the waters surrounding Long Island. And I know that part of the testing program was to test it in a high traffic area, so they can give it a "stress test." So its very possible that this could have been an AEGIS test gone wrong. But then again pilots in the area said they didn't see missile. And my buddy is currently in the Navy and he works with missiles/ordinance and he said that it would be very hard for people to not see a missile launch/travel at night when its pitch black, plus they are also loud. Whatever, it should be interesting

Sounds like something may have failed the STRESS TEST :) and of course the government does not want to expose their secrets and continue more cover ups... So they force the airline industry to spend billions because of it.

I've always thought this plane was shot down. It happened at a time when our President and his wife Hillary 'What difference does it make?' Clinton were in denial about terrorism. Same for the Egypt Air crash. Same stuff is happening now.

Right after the accident I watched a play back of the radar tape on CNN. It showed a primary traget of an object trailing then impacting the aircraft. I saw this myself on national TV, it wasn't a conspiracy it was real time. That tape was pulled and never shown again but I saw it and it was convincing. Google Jamie Gorelick, find out who she is and her involvement if you don't already know.

I remember hearing that report, but never saw any video of it. I remember watching coverage of the Oklahoma bombing of the Federal building there ad the interruptions of the search for other bomb discoveries. Never heard any more about those either. How long has this been going on? Is the information getting too fast for the conspiracies?

CNN announced this morning that they would have a documentary on this of some type at 11pmEST on Sunday night. It will probaly be a rehash of what they did years ago with some excerpts from this current one. I guess we'll see.

An article that appeared in several newspapers six-eight years ago reported that the government contracted with a salvage company to dismantle the TWA aircraft and ordered that it be totally destroyed -- melted down, ground up, burned, crushed -- to prevent a subsequent investigation from ever being able to challenge the government's version of what happened on that summer eevening in 1996.

Well, that goes back to my other question. According to the article it is still in that same warehouse/hangar. If it was contracted to be scrapped & melted, why wasn't it and WHY has it been kept around for 17 years and WHO is paying for it.

I read a book back in the late 90's. That had to do with this exact thing. It claimed also that solid rocket propellant was found on seat cushion and other seat fabric. I also read where blips showed up on radar. And there were Naval vessels several miles off coast. It's sad but I think our own government may have downed a civilian aircraft. Accidents happen maybe the truth as much as we would like to know it, may be better left at the bottom of the sea. Esp. if the truth would cause more out rage and pouring salt into still open wounds of the families. If I had been on that plane (I'm dead) I don't want my loved ones to have to go thru this all over this again. I do pray for the families I know what it is like to have someone yanked away from you. I lost a friend in the North tower Killing Bin Laden didn't make me feel any better it was just another reminder that my friend was gone and that I want him back. Unless we can bring back those 200 and some odd persons don't push too hard.

Just waiting to see what they say... I have always said and firmly believe that the fuel tank did not blow up by the means officially reported.... For me to believe that would like saying that the government is upfront with us and tells us everything.

There is a long-standing tension, even hostility, between "root cause" analysts like NTSB and the Chemical Safety Board and criminal investigators. I have personal experience with this. NTSB/CSB hate to/ refuse to cooperate with law enforcement for fear of tainting their "root cause" analysis. LEO's are frustrated by the failure to share information.

Here, it is impossible to know whether there is any factual validity to the investigators' claim, or whether it is an example of the historical sour grapes/hostility that continues to fester between the safety boards and law enforcement.

My question was directed to who funded the documentary and, being a bit cynical, if they have an agenda beyond 'the truth shall come out'. Timing referred to the election cycle- it's a mid term Congressional election....

Am waiting for the next shoe to drop. A lot of good points around this so far.

While I certainly don't know the answer to your question, one can reasonably say that Fox News is entirely capable of such a production "in house", as well as fomenting interest in any forums to gain additional advertising revenue

Yes, many good points raised, and I find it remarkable that many of them are entirely new to me.

I don't know who backed it but EPIX will show it next month. I personally wish that everybody would get off of Fox News A**. With the big 3 + CNN, there is more than a dose of country ruinng liberal junk that espews from their mouths. There has to be a balancing act somewhere. If you don't like it, then do like I do with the others, turn off the TV or change the channel. Your right to dislike it and mine to like it come together here and on equal footing, so the proper thing is to just disagree and go on. I did my time in 'Nam to have and defend that right.

For the sake of protecting the population of any fears which will then be detrimental to the economy and their personal goals (power), politician lied and democrats are the worst.’ The truth will set you free.’ By being misleading, they control the population on the name of democracy. Terrorist objectives during Democrats presidency have succeeded, recent examples: Carter, Clinton and now Obama. What do we expect next? Let the truth come out…

Not that I am disagreeing with you, but if the Democrats are worst, it is only by a hair. There are a few modest examples of terrorist successes under Reagan, Bush, and Bush. I think the 'population' they are protecting include their own backsides first and formost, with the American people a distant fifth.

Whose watch was it during 9/11? If you think for a second that either of the Bush clan, or even Reagan, would hold a press conference to tell the American people that OUR military just shot down a commercial airliner loaded with American citizens, you're really naive. A politician is a politician, red, blue, left, right, lib, consv, they are ALL the same and do not deserve to step foot on the ground they walk upon.

Hogwash,I am always amazed at how so many involved w/ an event such as this are just forgotten. Yup, they were all told keep your mouth shut or else, fat chance. Lets just look at the Iranian airliner that was shot down, if there was ever a case for trying to hide something that was it, and why didn't our gov try to blame someone else because they couldn't, to much evidence too many eyes. So sorry if I think this is just what it was, a freak accident. Just like the moon landings, leave it up to some "expert" to make a ridiculous claim when they probably couldn't even understand the science which proves their claim as false. It is too bad that the families have to be dragged through this all over again just so someone can make a buck and present another story of distrust, makes me ill.

Investigators must be needing some lunch money. Easy to circulate a few emails to increase the workload. Conspiracy theories get old. Watch out for your Shadows! Let those who lost their loved ones alone..

I am convinced it's all propaganda.....The Bengahzi thing happened and all you saw on the news was Jodi Arias....It's all a shell game and all the powers that be are all working for the same team. I was fairly young whenever TWA 800 went down but even I remember the first witnesses saying there was a missile like object that hit it....We'll never know the truth because they will always turn our attention to something else.

"A group of whistleblowers, including a number of aviation experts, have come forward in a new documentary to claim that the official explanation for the crash of TWA Flight 800 was wrong and a gas tank explosion did not bring down the flight off the coast of Long Island 17 years ago."

A handful of aviation experts, including a number of investigators who were part of the original probe of TWA Flight 800, have come forward in a new documentary to say evidence points to a missile as the cause of the crash off the coast of Long Island 17 years ago.